by Lynsay Sands
But whatever it was, she’d do it, Jess thought grimly. She wasn’t letting Vasco force her into being his vampirate bitch, or whatever he was after. He’d pissed her off now.
Opening her eyes, Jess turned her head and peered at Raffaele again. His eyes were closed. It looked like he’d fallen back to sleep, if he’d ever even woken up fully. It left her free to examine his face. He really was attractive. At least, he was to her. She supposed he didn’t have classical good looks, but there was just something about him that appealed to her. And he had an amazing body. He’d carried her around like she weighed nothing last night, both on the way to the room she shared with Allison, and then again when he’d carried her back here to the suite he shared with Santo and Zanipolo. Jess had been a bit hysterical at the time over her things being stolen, and she suspected she’d been babbling about vampire pirates and not wanting to be a vampire bitch when he rushed into the bedroom after she screamed. But he’d been incredibly sweet and soothing and had simply scooped her up and carried her out of the room.
He’d brought her straight here, set her in the chair while he opened the pull-out couch, which was already made. He’d then set her on it, tucked her in, and had promised that she was safe, and he would make sure it stayed that way as Santo and Zanipolo had finally caught up to them.
“It was the pirates!” Zanipolo had blurted, rushing into the room. “They had a small motorboat down on the beach. By the time we got there—”
That was all Jess could remember . . . except she was pretty sure Santo had suddenly turned to look at her then. But that was it, so she must have passed out at that point . . . and fallen into some pretty steamy dreams, Jess recalled, biting her lip. All of them had starred Raffaele, and all had included some pretty rockin’ sex in a variety of places and positions. The balcony had just been the last of the lot, and a tamer one than most of the others. She supposed she’d been wearying as morning approached.
A loud snore sounded from behind the closed double doors to the bedroom. It was followed by a much quieter snore, and then they both repeated one after the other. Santo and Zanipolo were obviously sleeping well, she thought dryly. But then they didn’t have some crazy, sexy, murderous vampirate wreaking havoc in their life and stealing everything they possessed in an effort to force them into being their bitch.
Well, not murderous, she supposed. As far as Jess could tell everyone who had been on the ship had returned to the resort safe and sound . . . just probably a pint or two lower in blood. Still . . . she just wanted her life back the way it was before Allison had dragged her onto that damned boat. She wanted her passport and everything else back. And she wanted not to know there were vampires out there, sailing the high seas and biting people.
But she couldn’t have that, Jess told herself firmly. So, it was better to deal with reality and do what she could. She would have to find out where the nearest embassy was and see about getting a temporary passport. Fortunately, she’d scanned and emailed herself her passport pages as a precaution before the trip. That should make getting a replacement a lot easier. She hoped. But even then, her problems weren’t over. Sure, she could probably borrow money from one of her aunts and uncles for a ticket home, but they’d wonder why she wanted to leave early, so she supposed she’d have to come up with an excuse for that. But even once she got home, her troubles weren’t over. She’d have to replace all her ID, all her credit and bank cards, her health card, driver’s license . . .
The list seemed endless, and it would be expensive, and time-consuming, and the whole time she’d be worried about Vasco showing up at her door, because he had her address. It would be easier if she could just get her stuff back from him.
Jess contemplated that briefly. Could she get it back? He probably had it on the ship. Probably in his cabin and she knew where that was. If she could slip on board while he was gone, say, while they were all out luring tourists back to the ship . . .
That idea had some merit to it, Jess thought suddenly. It might work. She just needed to come up with a plan to stay hidden near the dock until she saw the vampirates disembark to mix among the returning tourists. But first she needed to get rid of her headache so her thinking was a little sharper. She needed a foolproof plan if she was going to do this. Jess hadn’t escaped the ship, just to turn around and get caught sneaking back onto it.
Opening her eyes once more, Jess turned her head toward Raffaele again. Much to her relief, he appeared to be sleeping pretty soundly. Jess didn’t think she could face him this morning. He couldn’t know about her dreams, of course, but she was afraid she’d blush and stammer like an idiot if she had to deal with him before she at least had a coffee and cleared her head.
And maybe a stern internal lecture about this sudden horn-dog streak she had going on, Jess thought with a grimace as she pushed the sheet aside, and got quietly out of the pull-out bed. She hesitated then, every instinct in her demanding she make the bed and put it away, back to its original station as a couch. That was what a good guest would do, but Jess was afraid of waking Raffaele. She debated the issue briefly, and then merely tugged the sheet back into place, and then did the same with the blanket she’d apparently kicked aside. She’d straightened and was surveying her handiwork when Jess spotted the key card on the end table next to the couch.
It had to be hers. Probably. She couldn’t be sure. They all looked the same, but she’d just got a new key card and it might be it. Or it might be Raffaele’s key card to this room. She hesitated briefly, and then blew her breath out and took it. She’d try it and see. If it didn’t work for her room, she’d bring it back, let herself in, leave it where she found it, and tiptoe back out.
Jess managed to leave without waking Raffaele. Breathing a sigh of relief once she’d eased the door silently closed, she turned and hurried along the open hall to the stairs. The whole way back to the suite she shared with Allison, Jess was half hoping her cousin wouldn’t be there. With the way her head was pounding, she could really do without Allison’s bitchiness this morning, Jess thought as she reached the door to their suite and quickly ran the key card over the security panel.
It unlocked without issue, and Jess opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes scanning the empty sitting room, and then sliding to peer through the open bathroom door before she let the door ease closed. Not wanting to wake Allison if she was there, Jess closed it as quietly as she had the door to the men’s suite, and then pretty much tiptoed farther inside until she could see through the open doors to the bedroom. It was empty, and both beds still made. It looked like Allison hadn’t even slept there.
Jess relaxed a little, but then noticed that the bathroom door was closed and hesitated. But there was nothing for it. She had to check the bathroom too. Crossing the room, she opened the door to darkness, and automatically flipped the switch on the wall. Light exploded into the room, making her wince, but it revealed for sure that Allison wasn’t there. Not that she’d imagined her cousin was sitting there in the dark.
Jess started to back out of the room, but paused as her gaze landed on the shower. She always showered before and after going swimming, but she hadn’t got the chance to last night. Having one before she put on Allison’s clean clothes would certainly be nice. Nodding, she crossed the room, stripping off Santo’s shirt as she went. Jess almost let the shirt drop to the floor, but aware that it wasn’t hers to treat so shabbily, she laid it over the end of the tub instead, and then opened the shower door and reached in to turn on the taps. The water came out ice cold, of course, and she knew from the first two mornings they’d been here that it would be slow to warm, so Jess left the bathroom, pulling the door closed as she went. There was no need to add more humidity to the rest of the suite, she thought dryly as she crossed to the closet.
Both trifold doors were still open from her visit last night, and Jess surveyed the clothes still in the closet as she approached. Even with all of her clothing missing, the closet was three-quarters full. Allison was one
of those overpackers. In a serious way. She probably wouldn’t even miss anything Jess took, but she didn’t want to borrow anything expensive. Allison wasn’t above insisting Jess replace rather than return anything she borrowed.
Jess was about to start shifting hangers to go through what was available when she realized that not only had she left the closet doors open last night, she’d left the door to the safe built into the middle of the back wall of the closet wide open as well.
Nice, she thought with self-disgust. Let’s get Allison’s stuff stolen too. Shaking her head, Jess reached for the safe door, intending to close it, but then thought better of it. She should really check and make sure nothing of hers had been left behind. It was pretty obvious that her wallet was gone, but her passport was thin; maybe it had slipped under Allison’s stuff and they’d missed it. With that hope in mind, Jess stepped between the hanging clothes to check out the items remaining in the safe, and that was where she was when she heard someone say, “Sounds like she’s in the shower, Capitan.”
Freezing, Jess turned her head sharply to look into the bedroom, but there was no one there yet. The voice had come from the sitting room, drawing nearer with each word. Panic racing through her, Jess stepped to the left, behind the hanging clothes on that side, her mind scrambling for a way to save herself.
“It would appear so.” There was no mistaking Vasco’s voice. “And I’m thinking I should join her.”
Jess closed her eyes, just barely restraining a groan. He was about to find out she wasn’t in there, and then they’d search the room.
“Do you think that’s wise?”
Her eyes popped open, and she listened breathlessly.
“I’m just thinking,” Cristo continued after a pause, “that maybe it would be better to wait until you get her to the ship to start anything. You’re not like to want to stop once you start, and—”
“Aye-aye, ye’re right. Better to wait until we’re back at the ship,” Vasco said with obvious disappointment. “I guess we might as well take a seat, then. Women take forever at these things.”
There was a grunt of what she assumed was agreement and then silence.
Jess slowly let out the breath she’d been holding, afraid to make any kind of a sound to let the men know she wasn’t in the shower, and then bit her lip and tried to think what to do. She had to get out of there, obviously, but couldn’t leave through the suite door with the men in the sitting room. That left the sliding glass doors to the balcony, but there were two problems with that. One, she wasn’t sure she could get to them without being seen by someone in the sitting room. It depended on what seats the men had chosen. If they’d chosen to sit at the small table by the window she’d be okay, but if they were seated on the couch she’d be seen. The other problem was what did she do once she was on the balcony? This was the fourth floor and that made it a long way to the ground.
Although, she thought suddenly, the suite Raffaele, Santo, and Zanipolo shared was right below this one. Maybe she could climb over the railing and lower herself to their balcony.
Jess grimaced at the very thought. She so hated heights. On top of that, she really wasn’t very athletic. She spent most of her time studying or counseling. The only exercise she really got was slinging drinks at the bar.
The murmur of voices from the sitting room made up Jess’s mind for her. She didn’t really have a choice. She had to at least try to escape. Swallowing, Jess eased slowly out through the clothes, wincing and stilling when one of the hangers let out a small screech as it scraped along the metal rod. She listened desperately for anyone coming to check out what the sound was, but when the murmurs continued from the next room, she decided the small sound hadn’t been heard and eased all the way out, her gaze locked on the open doors to the sitting area as she did.
Jess nearly sobbed with relief when the couch came into view and she saw that it was empty. They’d sat by the window. She could slip out unseen, Jess thought, and started to do that, but then realized she was only wearing her bikini bottoms. Pausing, she glanced swiftly over the clothes available, chose the dark blue sundress with white flowers because she knew it was older, and then eased it carefully from the hanger.
Afraid of bumping the hangers and sending them screeching along the rod, Jess didn’t take the time to put it on now. She simply clasped it in her hand and tiptoed to the sliding glass doors. She unlocked it slowly and cautiously, wincing at the snick of sound it made. But when the voices continued from the next room, she eased the door open along its track, moving it at a snail’s pace to avoid any sound or sudden change in air pressure that might alert the men. It seemed to take forever, but eventually she had it wide enough to slip through. Jess didn’t bother to close it, but turned to peer nervously toward the sliding glass doors off the sitting room.
If the men were seated at the table as she suspected, they would see her the minute she stepped away from the door. She had to move quickly during this next part, Jess thought, and glanced toward the balcony railing, only to stiffen with shock. It wasn’t a railing at all. Well, it was, but only a half railing on top of a two-foot-high half wall. Why hadn’t she noticed that? How the hell was she supposed to climb down that?
Jess closed her eyes and just managed to bite back a moan. This so wasn’t good. She was going to kill herself in the attempt. But she didn’t have a lot of choices here. It was try, or just surrender to Vasco.
Mouth tightening, Jess opened her eyes, slung Allison’s dress around her neck and raced for the rail. She had reached it, stepped on the half wall, and slung first one leg and then the other over the rail before she heard a sliding door open and salty curses. Uttering a salty curse of her own, Jess grasped the rails tightly and stepped backward, letting herself fall. Her hands slid down the metal rails with a squeal, but stopped abruptly at the half wall, jerking her to a halt.
Biting back a scream of pain as the metal dug into her hands, Jess glanced desperately down, her heart sinking when she saw that the two feet of half wall wasn’t all the wall there was. Two feet only reached the top of her balcony floor, then there was the thickness of the balcony itself and apparently more wall at the top of the third-floor balcony. At least, that was what it looked like to her, because she was hanging from the top of her half wall, but the wall stretched down to just above her waist. She could barely see the edge of Raffaele’s balcony, and didn’t think she’d be able to swing herself anywhere.
“Hang on, lovey. I’m coming!”
Jess jerked her head up just in time to snatch her hand off the railing as Vasco appeared above her and made to close his fingers over hers. That had been instinct, and a stupid one, she realized, squawking in alarm as her body swung out so that she hung sideways to the balcony, dangling from one hand that was starting to slip. She was almost glad when Vasco slapped his hand over that one instead, and tightened his grip.
“I’ve got ye, love. Ye’ll be all right,” he assured her, managing a smile that didn’t hide a real concern. Turning his head, he bellowed, “Cristo! Get over here and hold her hand while I climb over to get her.”
Jess closed her eyes and debated what to do as awareness slid through her body at his touch. Should she try to make the balcony below? Or wait to be rescued and taken away by Vasco? Hanging there from one arm that felt like it was being dislocated, while her body hummed in response to just their hands touching . . . well, his saving her actually didn’t seem that horrible. After all, Vasco wasn’t so bad—a bath, shampoo, and a muzzle would even make him amazing . . . Except for the whole biting thing.
“Here, I’m going to take my hand away and you slap yours on. Don’t let her go,” Vasco ordered.
“Just pull her up by her hand, Vasco,” Cristo suggested.
“I’ll not risk dislocating her arm or something jerking her up by her wrist,” Vasco growled.
Jess was just telling herself that was very thoughtful of him, when he added, “I can hardly give her a good rogering if she’s got broken b
ones.”
“Dear God,” Jess muttered, and lifted her head, intending to swing her lower body toward the balcony below and let go when he let go. But she was too late; her eyes were only half-raised to him when his hand was gone and another immediately closed around hers in its place.
“Trying to escape again, I see, little dove,” Cristo said by way of greeting when her eyes met his through the rails.
“Nah,” Vasco said for her. “I’m her life mate. No one can resist their life mate. She’s just playing hard to get to prove she’s not a doxy,” he continued good-naturedly as he straightened and stepped up on the half wall. Peering over the rail at her, he paused to add, “You’re adding a little spice to the rum, love, and I like spiced rum.”
His gaze shifted to her bare breasts then and Vasco licked his lips and then sighed and shook his head. “Damn, I do like them jugs, lovey. Can’t wait to suck on them and grope for trout in your river again,” he muttered, and slung one leg over the rail before stopping again to look at her some more.
Jess gaped at him, her eyes wide as she noted the silver gathering in his beautiful green eyes as he looked down at her.
“Yer pretty as a picture hanging stretched out there, lass,” he said with a gusty sigh. “I’m thinking when we get back to the ship I might tie ye down stretched out like and just look on ye a bit ‘ere I give you a good quiffing.”
Jess was trying to figure out what a quiffing was when he suddenly laughed and slapped his knee. “Who am I kidding, love? My whore pipe’s already so hard for ye the first time’ll most like be a flyer.”
Jess just gaped as he swung his second leg over to stand on the half wall on the same side of the railing as her. It was like the man spoke a whole other language. She hadn’t a clue what he was saying he was going to do with her, but suspected she should be glad of that. Turning her gaze back to Cristo, she eyed his hand on hers.
